Opportunity
by some1lostme
Summary: An opportunity presents itself to Tony and Ziva, will they take it? Spoilers for anything from Season 7. Tiva. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Opportunity

**Rating: **T, I suppose

**Spoilers: **Anything up until "_Truth or Consequence_"

**Summary: **An opportunity presents itself to Tony and Ziva, will they take it?

**Pairing:** Tiva, of course.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned them, Tiva would be a reality and not just something I'm writing about.

**Chapter One**

They'd been sitting in the small diner in the middle-of-nowhere Delaware for nearly an hour, waiting to see if the heavy blanket of snow would let up enough for them to head back to D.C. Tony was on the phone with Gibbs, explaining their situation, and Ziva sat opposite him, trying to focus her attention on anything but the sound of his voice.

"Yeah, Boss, as soon as we get the go ahead from the sheriff, we're gonna start back," he was saying, "But the main road out of town is shut down because of a water main break and we were told there really isn't another route out of here."

Ziva watched the snow continue to come down, coating the Charger in a thick white blanket, and listened intently to Gibbs muffled voice on the other end of the phone.

"_Just find somewhere to stay, DiNozzo, no point putting either of your lives in danger by driving back in this mess," _he was saying.

Tony nodded, even though Gibbs obviously could not see him, "Will do, Boss."

"_And DiNozzo," _Gibbs said, _"Do I need to remind you about the rules?"_

Tony cleared his throat and Ziva hid her smirk by keeping her gaze locked on the car outside.

"Um, no, Gibbs," he said, "I remember."

Tony said goodbye and hung up, putting his phone on the table beside his empty coffee cup.

"Gibbs thinks that we should just find somewhere to stay for the night."

Ziva nodded, turning to face him now, "I heard."

Tony waved over their waitress by lifting his empty cup.

As she approached, Ziva turned her gaze back to the heavy snow. They'd only been in town for a couple of hours, interviewing acquaintances of their dead Navy officer, when it had started coming down. And then they'd learned of the water main break and a feeling of dread washed over her. She'd known then that they would not be heading back to the office and that she and Tony would end up having to find a motel to take refuge from the weather.

"More coffee?" the waitress asked.

Ziva glanced over at her, shaking her head, "No, thank you."

The waitress re-filled Tony's cup.

"We are looking for a room for the night," Ziva told her, "Is there somewhere that you could recommend?"

"Oh sure," she said, "There's a small inn down the block. It's off season here, obviously, so I'm sure that they've got a room available. You can leave your car here, it's not too far of a walk. Just tell 'em Julie sent you."

Ziva nodded, "Thank you."

The waitress nodded, leaving them alone again, and Ziva watched Tony finish his fresh cup of coffee. When he placed the cup back down on the table and fished a five dollar bill out of his wallet, she slid out of the booth.

"I will get our things out of the car," she told him, holding her hand out for the keys.

He looked at her for a long moment and she couldn't help wondering what he was thinking as he placed the keys in her outstretched hand. She stands there for a moment longer, watching him watch her, before turning her back to him and heading for the car.

It has been nearly four months since he and Gibbs and McGee rescued her from her captors in Somalia and in that time, so much within her had changed. Although she and Tony had not set their relationship back to where it had been, they had been able to resume some sense of normalcy. But in that time, she had realized that she did not want to be back where they were. She wanted something more. And she was fairly certain that he felt the same way. They were both just too scared to admit it.

"Ziva, you all right?" Tony asked, his voice startling her slightly.

She turned, handing him his bag and slinging her own over her shoulder.

"I am fine, Tony," she said, closing the trunk and stepping back onto the side walk, "We should go. It is getting colder by the minute."


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Opportunity

**Rating: **T, I suppose

**Spoilers: **Anything up until "_Truth or Consequence_"

**Summary: **An opportunity presents itself to Tony and Ziva, will they take it?

**Pairing:** Tiva, of course.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned them, Tiva would be a reality and not just something I'm writing about.

**Chapter Two**

They stood on the sidewalk outside of the Colonial Inn at Bridgeport. The building was white with navy blue shutters and Ziva noted that it looked more like a home than a hotel. The windows were dark and she sighed.

"This does not look promising, Tony."

He shrugged, moving toward the porch, "You got a better idea, Probie?"

She smirked at his back, glad that he could not see how happy it made her when he called her that, before following him onto the porch.

"No, I suppose not," she said.

Tony held the door open for her and Ziva stepped out of the cold and into the darkened foyer. There was a large secretary's desk just beside the stairs and Ziva stepped up to it, ringing the small bell that sat there. Tony closed the door and dusted snow from his hair as a woman appeared from what he assumed was a sitting room.

"Hello," Ziva said politely, "We are in need of a room for the night. Julie from the diner suggested your establishment."

"Stuck by the snow, huh?" the woman asked, sitting down behind the desk, "I have a feeling we'll be seeing quite a few stranded motorists today. Anyhow, I'm Mable, and we have plenty of rooms available. I must warn you though that we've lost power and I'm not sure that we're going to get it back tonight so it is going to get awfully cold in here. I do have one room with a fireplace available and there's plenty of wood to burn. Were you in need of one room or two tonight?"

"Two," Tony said, at the same time that Ziva said, "One."

They looked at each other. Tony opened his mouth to argue but it was Ziva who spoke first.

"My partner and I will take the room with the fireplace," she told Mable, "We are adults, Tony, are we not? I believe we can share a room for one night. Besides, there is no point in one of us freezing when we can both try to stay warm."

Tony didn't argue but Ziva could clearly see that he was having an internal debate over whether the two of them sleeping in the same room was a good idea. She was having the same debate however she was able to put her feelings aside and see the bigger picture. If the snow continued through the night, it would only become colder and if they could both manage to stay relatively warm then there was no point in not sharing a room.

"All right, I'll just need a credit card and some identification," Mable said, "You'll be in room number four, top of the stairs and to the right. I'll have some fire wood and extra blankets brought up for you. My husband has set up our gas grill out back and he'll be making hamburgers for supper if you're hungry."

Ziva shook her head, "We ate at the diner, but thank you."

Tony handed over his credit card and driver's license and Ziva wondered briefly if he thought that she would not be able to pay. He would have been correct, of course, because when she'd decided to stay in Tel Aviv she'd cancelled all of her credit cards and had not had a chance to apply for any new ones since returning. But she new that Tony was simply being polite by paying and she also new that he would be reimbursed for the cost of the room. She waited as he signed the paperwork and accepted a key from Mable.

"You two are all set, if you need anything, feel free to come down and ring the bell."

And then Mable was gone again, leaving Tony and Ziva alone at the bottom of the stairs.

Their room was exactly where they'd been told it would be, on the right at the top of the stairs. Ziva allowed Tony to open the door for her and she stepped in, smiling slightly at the sight before her.

Their room seemed to have a nautical theme with blue-gray walls decorated with ornamental life preservers, paintings of stormy ocean scenes and even a large net that had plastic seaweed attached to it. The bed in the center of the room was large, with a heavy wooden headboard and clean white linens. Ziva imagined that it would be quite comfortable and she dropped her backpack onto the bed.

"Why do I have this horrible feeling that Gibbs would love this place?" Tony asked, stripping off his coat and leaving it draped over the chair in the corner.

Ziva laughed, "I believe you are correct, Tony, Gibbs would enjoy the décor."

Ziva's laughter died as she watched Tony standing motionless on the opposite side of the bed. The tension between them had been increasing daily since she'd returned and she now felt that they had reached their breaking point. They would have to talk about this eventually and since they had nothing better to do, now seemed as good a time as any.

"Tony, we –"

But the knock at the door interrupted her and she sighed as Tony moved to answer it. This was going to be like pulling toes… or was it teeth? She shook her head, rummaging through her bag as Tony answered the door. She heard snippets of the conversation going on behind her as Tony accepted fire wood and extra blankets for their room. The door shut and he was moving back toward her when Ziva turned around, arms crossed over her chest.

"Tony," she began again, "We need to talk."

Tony didn't say anything as he handed her the stack of blankets. He moved to the fireplace, building a modest fire with the wood he'd been given before turning back to Ziva. She hadn't moved, still holding the extra blankets in her arms.

"Okay," Tony said, "Talk."


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **Opportunity

**Rating: **T, I suppose

**Spoilers: **Anything up until "_Truth or Consequence_"

**Summary: **An opportunity presents itself to Tony and Ziva, will they take it?

**Pairing:** Tiva, of course.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned them, Tiva would be a reality and not just something I'm writing about.

**Chapter Three**

Ziva glared at Tony, dropping the blankets on the bed and turning to face him.

"You wanted to talk," he said, sitting on the floor at the end of the bed, feet stretched out, "So talk."

She sighed, allowed herself to unclench, and sat beside him, her back against the bed. She said nothing as she watched the flames dance in front of her eyes. The room was considerably darker even though they'd only been there a few minutes and the light cast off by the fire made her feel... she did not want to think about what she was feeling.

She glanced over at Tony, taking in his profile in the warm glow of the fire. He was handsome, that much she could not deny, but she'd know that for years. What she had recently learned was that he had grown up. He'd become a man in the few months that she'd been in Somalia, instead of a teenage boy in a grown man's body. And from what she had been told by McGee and Abby (who would be vehemently deny saying anything) she was the reason that he had suddenly changed his behavior.

"Are you going to say something?" Tony asked, "Or are we just going to sit here and pretend to have a conversation?"

"You are different."

Tony sighed, "Didn't we go through this last year, in Cartageña, Probie?"

"I do not mean that you look different, Tony, I mean that you have become a different person," Ziva explained, "I noticed before I left that you were... I do not know the word."

"Mature?" Tony supplied.

Ziva laughed, "That is pushing it, Tony."

She noticed his smile out of the corner of her eye but she also noticed that it did not reach his eyes. She wished that she could make him smile and really mean it.

"Anyway, I need you to know that I have also changed, Tony," she continued, "And even though we have known each other for nearly four years, there are still things about me that you could not possibly know. Things that would make you not want to know me, Tony."

He frowned, turning slightly to face her, shaking his head, "I don't think that's possible, Sweet Cheeks."

She shook her head, "I have done things, things that would make you believe that I am a horrible person. I am –"

"Ziva, listen to me, whatever you've done, and I know that you've done some ... not so great things, you need to know that I'm still going to be here for you."

Ziva did not respond for a long moment, staring at the fire in front of her. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest and she had many more questions floating around in her head but she did not know if she should ask them. She did not know where she wanted their conversation to lead.

"How can you still trust me, Tony?" she asked, "After what I've done to you, after the things that I have said, I do not understand why you trust me... I would not trust you if our roles were reversed."

"You're my partner, Ziva."

That was all he said. Ziva shut her eyes, letting her head rest on the foot board of the bed. The thoughts in her head were weighing heavily on her heart and it made her head hurt. After all of her training as a Mossad operative, she had broken the number one rule and allowed her feelings to cloud her judgment.

"When Abby told us that the Damocles had sank, and that there had been no survivors, I thought I was losing my mind," he said softly, "I thought that she had to be mistaken because you were a ninja, you couldn't possibly be dead. But we had no evidence proving otherwise."

Ziva opened one eye to see Tony with his eyes closed, his head against the bed just as her's was.

"When Jeanne left, I was pretty sure that that was it for me," he continued, never opening his eyes, "I was sure that I would never feel that way again because I wouldn't let another woman make me feel that way. Or at least that's what I tried to tell myself. But deep down, I knew that, even though I'd thought I'd been in love with Jeanne, there was someone else who could easily do twice the damage that she had done. And my gut was right. When I heard the words _no survivors_ come out of Abby's mouth, my heart stopped beating."

Tears suddenly burned in Ziva's eyes and she was glad that Tony's eyes remained shut. She blinked hard.

"Tony, I-"

He held up a hand to stop her, "Please, Ziva, just let me finish."

She didn't say anything then and he continued.

"It took a few weeks for us to get everything in order, for Gibbs to convince Vance to let us go after Saleem. But it wasn't a rescue mission, Ziva, because we obviously thought that you were dead. I just wanted to – I wanted to kill the men that had taken you from us, from me," his voice broke on the last word, "And I was prepared to die in order to get that done. But when Saleem took that bag off of your head and you were sitting right in front of me... I thought that I might already be dead and that I was just imagining you there."

Tony shook his head, "And then you said something and suddenly my heart was beating again and I didn't care about anything but getting you out of there. And I didn't care if you never forgave me for what happened with Rivkin, as long as you were alive, you hating me was something that I was prepared to live with."


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: **Opportunity

**Rating: **T, I suppose

**Spoilers: **Anything up until "_Truth or Consequence_"

**Summary: **An opportunity presents itself to Tony and Ziva, will they take it?

**Pairing:** Tiva, of course.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned them, Tiva would be a reality and not just something I'm writing about.

**A/N: **Okay, so I'm thinking that there will be one more chapter (not tonight) but I haven't decided yet. Also, I know that Tony's explanation of everything is much more drawn out than Ziva's but I think that fits them perfectly. Her feelings for him are sort of out in the open, she's dropped plenty of hints, and I can see Tony needing to tell her everything because he's tried very hard to down play what he feels for her.

**Chapter Four**

Ziva didn't know how to respond. She did not know what to say. Tony had just told her exactly what she had wanted to hear, but she hadn't been prepared to hear it. She didn't know how to tell him how she felt.

"We should try to get some sleep," Tony said after a prolonged period of silence, "I have a feeling the drive back to base tomorrow is going to be a long one."

He got to his feet then, not giving her a chance to argue, and held out a hand to her. She allowed him to help her to her feet before they moved toward the opposite sides of the bed. Ziva watched as he kicked off his shoes and pulled back the blankets.

"Something on your mind, Ziva?"

His voice brought her out of her thoughts and she shook her head, following his lead and losing her shoes before climbing into bed beside him. She pulled the covers up under her chin and closed her eyes, feeling the chill seep in through the blankets and her clothes. As the fire began to dwindle down, she could not help but think that it was going to be a long night.

"Ziva?" Tony's voice was soft as he called her name.

"Yes Tony?" she asked, her eyes still closed.

She felt the mattress shift as he moved towards her under the blankets. She turned to face him, opening her eyes and giving him a questioning look.

"You're shivering," he said, sliding close enough that their bodies were touching, "Come here."

She hesitated for a moment, before pressing herself more firmly against Tony, her nose brushing his as she did so. She was not surprised by the immediate warmth provided by his much larger frame and she closed her eyes.

"I do not hate you, Tony," she whispered, "And there is nothing to forgive. It took nearly four months of captivity for me to realize that it is not I who needed to forgive you, but you who needed to forgive me. I do not know how I could have ever doubted you."

Tony slid his arm around her back, allowing it to slid into her hair.

"Love makes you do stupid things, Ziva," he said quietly.

Ziva shook her head, "No, Tony, I did not love Michael. I thought that... I felt that I may have loved him had our affair continued. But after speaking with my father and after he assigned me to finish Michael's mission, I knew that it would have ended badly because he did not love me. Michael was simply following orders."

Tony was silent, running his fingers idly through her hair, and Ziva sighed.

"I thought of you," she said softly, "Everyday. I thought of how we left things, of how I let you believe that I was angry with you. And I hated myself for that. I wanted nothing more than to turn back time and return to America with you and Gibbs."

She took a breath and pulled away from Tony so that she could look up into his eyes.

"I told myself that you hated me and that I was not going to survive as Saleem's prisoner and I was prepared to die. I was prepared to let Saleem take my life until I found myself looking at you again and then I remembered why I wanted to live," she told him, tears in her eyes again, "I wanted to apologize, I wanted to throw myself in your arms and beg you to forgive me. And when you told me that you could not live without me, I wanted so badly to say the same to you."

Tony laughed then, shaking his head, and Ziva glared at him.

"Tony, I did not –"

"I'm sorry, Ziva," he said, "I don't mean to laugh. And I'm not laughing at you."

She continued to glare at him and he leaned his forehead against hers.

"What happened to us?" he asked, "We used to laugh at McGoo and tease each other and I could flirt with you and you'd flirt back and we'd pretend it didn't mean anything. And look at us? We're spilling our guts to each other in some random hotel and I'm seriously considering breaking rule 12, Boss Man be damned. When did we become adults with adult problems?"

Ziva laughed then, sliding one of her hands under his sweatshirt and pressing her cheek to his shoulder.

"We have grown up, Tony," she said, "There is nothing wrong with that."

Tony shook his head, "No, I don't think that there is."

They lay together in silence for a long moment, the fire light so dim now that Ziva could barely make out Tony's face in the darkness.

"Are you really considering breaking rule number 12?" she asked.

Tony laughed, "You heard that, huh?"

"I did. And what makes you think that I would condone that behavior?"

"I can be very persuasive, Probie," he said, his lips brushing across her face.

"Hmm," Ziva breathed, "I think that I would like to see that, my Little Hairy Butt."


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: **Opportunity

**Rating: **T, I suppose

**Spoilers: **Anything up until "_Truth or Consequence_"

**Summary: **An opportunity presents itself to Tony and Ziva, will they take it?

**Pairing:** Tiva, of course.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned them, Tiva would be a reality and not just something I'm writing about.

**A/N: **I just want to thank everyone who took the time to review this story. I had fun writing it and even though I'm not sure that I like the way this chapter ends, I enjoyed writing this side of Tony and Ziva.

**Chapter Five**

Ziva awoke to the sound of a ringing cell phone and a cold breeze across her face. She slid deeper into the covers and rolled over, her body searching for the heat that Tony's body would provide. She was met by cold sheets and she slowly opened her eyes. Dim white light filtered in through the curtains and she was not sure what time it was. She sat up, looking around their small hotel room.

The fire they had built the night before was no more and Ziva stared at the empty fireplace. She tangled her hand in her hair and closed her eyes, sighing.

She and Tony had said so many things to one another, things that she had been longing to say. She did not regret the things she'd said but a part of her feared that he would, that he would act as though things between them had not changed. But they had, in so many ways and she could not allow their relationship to remain in this ... limbo.

Her phone rang again and she slid out of the bed to search for it. She found it where she'd left it, lying on the floor beside her discarded backpack, and smiled as she saw Tony's name flash across the displace.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sweetcheeks, did I wake you?" he asks and she can practically see the brilliant smile on his face.

"No, Tony, you did not wake me. But you should have. Why did you let me sleep so late? And where did you go?"

"You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you up. Besides, when I tried, you mentioned the number eighteen and a paperclip and I decided that it would be wise to let you sleep," Tony joked.

Ziva rolled her eyes, "I do not think that I would have threatened you, Tony."

He snorted and Ziva smiled.

"Just come and open the door, Probie."

She froze for a moment, looking down at her phone before moving to the door. She opened it just as Tony reached the top of the stairs. He was carrying two styrofoam cups and a bakery bag, his phone wedge between his shoulder and his ear. She flipped her phone closed before relieving him of his and closing it as well.

He walked past her into the room, setting the bag and cups on the table under the window. She followed him, shutting the door behind her. She sat on the edge of the bed, taking the proffered cup, and watched him as he dug around in the bag. When he'd found whatever it was that he had been looking for, he sat down in the chair opposite her and took a large bite of his jelly donut.

"That cannot be healthy, Tony," she said, taking a sip of her tea.

Tony smiled as he swallowed the donut in just three bites, "But it was totally worth it, Ziva. I got you one, too."

She shook her head, "I am fine. Maybe later. Did you find out if the road has been cleared? Can we leave now?"

He nodded, taking a drink from his own cup, "Yeah, Sheriff Parsons said we were good to go. Although, he did warn me that the road to the interstate is going to be pretty bad. I guess they don't plow much around here."

Ziva nodded absently, her eyes locked on his face. He continued to drink his coffee, watching her over the edge of his cup.

"There are still many things that we have to talk about, Tony," she said finally, "But I am glad that we are on the same sentence."

Tony smirked, "It's page, Ziva, and sometimes, I think you do that on purpose."

She shook her head, "Do what on purpose, Tony?"

"Never mind. And you're right, we are on the same _sentence. _And there's always going to be something else for us to talk about, Zi," he said, placing his cup down on the table.

She watched as he stood up, taking her cup and placing it on the table beside his before pulling her up into his arms.

"But there is one thing that I want to tell you now, here, before we go back to the office," he said, "And I don't care if you believe me or if you think that it's too soon for me to say this. I've known for almost four years and I want to tell you now."

He paused and Ziva tilted her face up to him, "Then tell me, Tony."

"I love you, Ziva David."

She had known that those were the words he had wanted to say and she desperately wished that she could say them back, but she wasn't ready. She knew that she loved Tony, she had been trying to lie to herself about him for years. But telling him would be admitting to something that she wasn't fully sure she wanted to believe.

"Tony, I-"

He dropped his mouth to her's, cutting her words off immediately. The kiss was slow and sweet and she savored the feel of his mouth on hers, his hands in her hair. She allowed herself to feel safe with him, as she always had.

"I don't want you to say it until you're ready," he told her as they held each other, breathing heavily, "But when you are, I don't want you to think that I don't want to hear it. I love you, Ziva, and I have nothing left to lose. Nothing but you."

She shook her head, "I am not going anywhere, Tony. Not anytime soon."

He nodded, kissing her again quickly before taking a step back and putting some space between them.

"We should get back," he told her, "Because I have this feeling that the minute Gibbs sees us, he's going to know what happened and I'm going to get slapped so hard I'm not going to be able to remember my own name."

And Ziva laughed, thinking for the first time since returning from Africa that everything was going to be all right.


End file.
